Why have some of your fellow copy techs been fired?

[mascan42]

We had a guy a few months back that we discovered was doing networking jobs off the books for less than we normally charge, and pocketing the money.

All was going well for his little side project, until he got greedy and started doing it for customers outside his normal territory. When the regular tech got back from vacation and his customers asked if he could help them out like the other guy did, the jig was up. The guy was gone before the end of the day.

[blackcat4866]

There was a tech with 20+ years experience that had been asking customers with toner-included contracts to order extra cartridges. When the cartridges arrived he picked them up and sold them to non-contract customers at a discount, and sold the remaining ones on eBay. This went on for many years. Unfortunately for this tech, eBay keeps very accurate records of transactions. Not only was he fired immediately, but he was prosecuted and judged guilty to the tune of $20K.

He'll be paying that off for a very long time. =^..^=

[Shadow1]

Our last service manager was finally fired after 3 years of doing absolutely nothing. Literally.

Never paid a single bill. Never solved a single service issue. Never resolved any customer billing issues. Didn't even bother showing up at the office 3 days a week.

I think it was an experiment to see how long he could last and how little he could do.

... and a testament to the stupidity of the management structure at our company.

[schooltech]

Holy shit!!! I just worked with lazy, messed up techs where the fleas of a thousand camels had infested their armpits. This one tech would occasionally show up with two different shoes and said that he put them on in the dark. This same tech would sometimes also "forget" to wear socks (and deodorant). I don't know about some people.

I do not recall having anyone do anything that devious; most of the problems were them just not showing up to work or saying they were one place and not there. In-the-field spot checks quickly solved those problems.

[mascan42]

I remember back when I was a Xerox subcontractor, we hired one guy that was constantly late for work. My manager called him and said to be at the office first thing the next day to discuss the problem. He never showed up. He vanished for the next 3 days. Turns out he overslept, realized he was going to be late for the meeting about being late, decided he was going to be fired anyway, and figured it was best just to quit without telling us. We had to track him down to get his tools and parts back.

[atwageman]

I was recently sent out on a spot check mission to see if the employee's were really at the locations they said they were at. We were mainly out to catch one particular individual. I caught him in an out right lie, and he knew it.

One other tech was shit canned for stealing parts from the warehouse. Got him on video tape.

So far I've never had to track down employees to get parts or tools back. Come to think about I will never have to worry about getting tools back. The company does not provide tools or cases. All hand tools and tool cases must be provided by the employees and they are not reimbursed.

[fixthecopier]

Lets see, the guy who comes in late almost every day can not be fired because he is the head of the service dept. and the bosses brother.
The lazy ass that I caught sleeping on site instead of cleaning the machines and I reported him, did not get fired, he was the GM's son, and has since been fired. He was also reported for smoking pot in a bathroom on a military base. Also reported for driving the company delivery truck through somebodies front yard. Also fell asleep driving the truck and hit somebody head on.

On the subject of doing side work, I do not and never have. I believe it would be steeling from my boss. I would not fix something on the side for money but would as a favor.
The other reason I would not do it is because people are stupid and you are also, if you trust them. I can see fixing a printer on a Saturday night for half of what I would charge working from the shop, and they call the shop the next week to complain they have another problem.

I will admit that I got cash one time on the clock. I had told the customer that I was not going to charge for the estimates but she insisted and gave me thirty dollars out of the coffee fund.

[Mr Spock]

I remember back when I was a Xerox subcontractor, we hired one guy that was constantly late for work. My manager called him and said to be at the office first thing the next day to discuss the problem. He never showed up. He vanished for the next 3 days. Turns out he overslept, realized he was going to be late for the meeting about being late, decided he was going to be fired anyway, and figured it was best just to quit without telling us. We had to track him down to get his tools and parts back.

I worked for the Xerox service agency and we had an issue with the guy never being at the first call till 9:00am and claiming he was there at 8:00.
Manager showed up one morning at 8:15 and parked behind the techs car. Called the tech on the phone and asked where he was. The tech claimed to be in front of the machine fixing it. The manager then asked him to bring his stuff out to the car and turn it in. By the way the manager was behind his car at his HOUSE.

[Shadow1]

On the subject of doing side work, I do not and never have. I believe it would be steeling from my boss. I would not fix something on the side for money but would as a favor.
The other reason I would not do it is because people are stupid and you are also, if you trust them. I can see fixing a printer on a Saturday night for half of what I would charge working from the shop, and they call the shop the next week to complain they have another problem.

I never moonlight for copier repair, but I do occasionaly take computer jobs. I had been doing computer work long before my company started, and I'm very careful never to take a job my company would be interested in. Mostly leaves me scrubbing spyware and viruses off the neighbor's computers, but I get to take the wife out to dinner once in a while. (if the bills don't eat it all first)

I will admit that I got cash one time on the clock. I had told the customer that I was not going to charge for the estimates but she insisted and gave me thirty dollars out of the coffee fund.

It is customary to tip the copier guy - didn't you know that???

Seriously, I don't solicit tips, but I wouldn't turn one down either (after a mild protest and disclaimer) some people get offended if you refuse.

And I guess technically you have to report it to the boss.

[atwageman]

I worked for the Xerox service agency and we had an issue with the guy never being at the first call till 9:00am and claiming he was there at 8:00.
Manager showed up one morning at 8:15 and parked behind the techs car. Called the tech on the phone and asked where he was. The tech claimed to be in front of the machine fixing it. The manager then asked him to bring his stuff out to the car and turn it in. By the way the manager was behind his car at his HOUSE.

That is just classic. Some techs think they are slick. Also I want to add that many techs get in trouble because of customer complaints. I know techs that spend a balk of the day assing off, but yet have zero customer service issues and their machines run and look better than new. I, nor my boss have a problem with that........but slip up and cause customers to be unhappy and its your ass (job). I've seen many good techs get complacent in their job resposibilities and end up jobless.

[TheOwl]

We caught one guy out who was going out to machines and diagnosing problems rather well, but when it came time to fit the ordered parts......

Lets just say that he was putting the parts in the bin and saying that he had done the job.

Eventually he got caught as his job sheets weren't matching the machine history on the back of the machines and the fact that machines were still malfunctioning.

The stupid thing is, they had this dumb founded look on their face when they were fired. Gees, I wonder why???

[Guest]

Well, I must say thee opposite. Techs never get fired where I work. In two years I've seen 8 techs come and go. They never last long enough to get fired, they usually quit or disappear or never come back. The dispatcher is a bit crazy and the boss is a bit cheap, but I'm always treated well, can't complain. I guess its because, its hard to find responsible well trained technicians.

[prntrfxr]

Why have some of your fellow copy techs been fired?

One guy:

Carried parts in the back of his open bed pick-up truck for a whole week (& yes it rained). Fixing units were rusted circuit board boxes were soggy and could not be returned like that to vendor.

Used the company credit card to take his girlfriend to dinner, a movie and a hotel. I guess he never heard of credit card statements (my guess is he never had a credit card before)

Other guy:

Used parts from our stockroom to repair fax machines on the side for another company on company time. Parts for free + part of labor for free = $$$

Stole a customers newspaper off their front step.

Stole computers from the tech room


Other guy:

Waits until 11A to get started on his calls (due to phone calls to girlfriend) when he's supposed to be gone by 8:30 or 9 at the latest.

Went to a call 3 hours away and called me to tell me he had forgotten his tools and parts needed to complete the call. I told him that he'd have to come back to get them. He said, "I still get mileage, right?" So I fired back: "Did the company forget to bring tools to the site? We are not paying for your screw ups!" "Awww now, that's just not fair", he answered. "What would you think if a doctor was going to operate on you with no equipment? Would you go to that doctor again?" I replied. An hour later he calls me all happy and says, "I fixed it. I used the customer's tools and a spring from an ink pen and fixed it." I could have killed him, but he was too far away at that moment.

Repeatedly said he's at customer site, when customers calling us from in front of the machine at the same time. One time he said he was in traffic. Our lead tech came in and asked him what road he was on. He was on a road that doesn't remotely lead to where he was supposed to go. He was finally fired when he told us he was almost to the customer's site and the lead tech saw his car at a stripper club on the corner.


Another guy:

In fairness this guy was not a tech. He made deliveries and pick-ups for the techs. He had core parts and a customer's machine in his uncle's van with expired tags, no insurance, and a suspended licence. The vehicle was impounded and he was locked up. After a couple of days the customer was wanting their machine back. My boss ended up paying the guys bail, fine and the fee to get the van out of impound. Then she (yes the boss) said, "We can't fire him he's such a cute little fellow. It wasn't his fault, poor thing. Do you think we should fire him?" She was right it wasn't his fault, it was hers. She checked insurance, tags, & licence on all of the techs she hired (driving is not a tech's main function), but did not do the same when hiring a DRIVER.


These were the guys that got fired. Those that were kept:

1) one would come in an sleep on top of a pallet in the warehouse until 12 (on drugs apparently) and then do his job. "We never had a complaint from customers", my boss said.
2) one great tech and later service manager would regularly get in the face of corporate clients if they looked down on him. (once a lawyer called him a janitor - that didn't go well) He was banned from a couple of clients buildings by security. But he could fix anything, I swear as a tech he was awesome.
3) The best tech we ever had only had one hand (gone below the elbow). He was awesome. In about 2 seconds you never knew he was without it. Could move and lift machines. I wish I knew where he was, I'd hire him in a minute.
4) One was an alcoholic that looked as if he slept in his clothes. A couple of clients didn't think he had a professional image (they said he smelled bad) so he got regulated to smaller clients
5) One tech we could only keep in house. He would panic in traffic or if he got lost. I went with him to deliver some cartridges so that he'd have someone to direct him (he wouldn't let anyone drive his car and mine was too small). We went down a one-way street and he started to panic. I had to reassure him that we only had to go 2 blocks and then he missed the turn. We finally got there, but when we did he was crying.

[kyoceradude]

Had a tech that was going through a rough patch with his wife and was kicked out of the house. He was a good tech and ended up geting fired when his wife called the boss and asked him to get all of these parts and machines out of their garage so she can park her car in it.

One of our drivers was canned for using the company credit card to not only fill up the truck with gas, but also fill up his belly for lunch. (He found a gas station that hand wrote the receipts for the total only.) He got caught when he offered to buy one of the other drivers lunch and used the company card.

[prntrfxr]

Stupid Stealing

One of our drivers was canned for using the company credit card to not only fill up the truck with gas, but also fill up his belly for lunch. (He found a gas station that hand wrote the receipts for the total only.) He got caught when he offered to buy one of the other drivers lunch and used the company card.

I think a person who decides to steal from the company they work for are morons. Let me tell you what always happens:

1) There are no secrets in this world. Eventually what is hidden WILL come out.

2) It amazes me that stupid people never think about the consequences of their actions.
If you get caught, how will it effect your family?
Is it worth losing your job over?
Is it worth going to jail over?
Is it worth having trouble finding work in the industry again?
Is it worth the humiliation you will feel when your co-workers find out and laugh that you were stupid enough to do that?
What kind of example are you setting for your children (if you have them)?

3) Because stealing creates a euphoria of "getting away with something", thieves end up getting cocky and thinking that they can't get caught. This causes them to do more brazen stupid things that get them caught (like the story above).

4) People who steal almost always get caught and those who don't always live in fear of someone finding out.